Start a pension for kids

cloud_dog

My basic working premise is in agreement with AnotherJoe. It all comes down to personal choice and the ability to undertake your choices.

In the situation where finances permit making pension contributions for a child in addition to other more near term requirements then, great but, if you have financial constraints that mean you either make contributions to a pension or you make contributions in to investments (savings; yuk) for a child, I would suggest the latter (but not savings) simply because it provides flexibility.

No one knows what the financial world will look like in 20 years, no one knows what a child may want / need in 20 years. Investments will grow as will pension investment (obviously they will benefit from the tax relief up front) but there is little financial benefit of a pension over a LISA (at age 18) for a basic rate tax payer, for example. And even within the constraints of a LISA you can opt to use the money for a property purchase (at whatever age the child chooses; within the rules), or to go towards retirement planing.

For me it is about the flexibility to achieve the goals you want to achieve, and as I have no idea what goals my child will want to achieve I've chosen not to put money in to pension just yet.